Paris -
Paris police say tourists have been evacuated from the Arc de Triomphe while authorities check the famed monument for a possible bomb.
Police press officer Franck Ernotte said a special team was checking the giant arch, site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, both inside and outside.
He couldn't say exactly what prompted the search.
A security perimeter has been set up around the arch, which stands at the top of the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue and typically draws hundreds of tourists a day.
France has been on high alert since it launched a military intervention in Mali on January 2 to regain territory seized by Islamic radicals.
A bomb attack on April 23, at the French Embassy in Libya injured two guards and a teenager. -Sapa-AP